War in Ukraine, Russian sanctions and fierce energy crisiswho hit her Europe primary and secondary USAthe data on the energy giants of the Old Continent, which are on the path of polluting American energy companies, has changed dramatically.

With record profits set for 2022, European companies are now turning to oil and gas again, regardless of how this will affect their commitment to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. This is an approach already familiar to American giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron, whose future has always been tied to oil.

The war in Ukraine changed the situation and returned to the fore gas and oil.

Shell, BP and TotalEnergies have spent the last few years trying to convince investors of the benefits of investing in renewable energy and zero emissions. But in 2022, they reversed course due to the tens of billions of dollars they made from oil and gas drilling as well as their US bonds, according to a report from Finance.yahoo.com. This shift was brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which turned governments’ attention back to energy security and created a huge gap in Europe’s oil and gas supplies – a gap that the aforementioned companies could fill.

“Oil production will again be above 2019 levels,” BP chief executive Bernard Looney said, noting a departure from his 2020 forecast when he suggested demand may have already peaked. Shell said it would stop increasing spending on its renewables division while boosting natural gas production. BP has slowed down its planned cuts in fossil fuel production and revised its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. TotalEnergies is opening new LNG terminals in Europe to continue the business, which grew by 15% in 2022. It appears that investors make decisions and vote at general meetings with their wallets in mind. US companies consistently scored higher as their focus on oil and gas generated higher revenues. Chevron alone pledged $75 billion to shareholders last month through share buybacks, eclipsing similar programs from European companies. In 2021, activist investor Dan Lamb’s Third Point investment funds acquired a significant stake in Shell and began to pressure it to turn back to black gold. Europeans are beginning to chase US-sized incomes beyond oil. Lower emission energy, such as biofuels and electric vehicle charging, provides higher returns and a clearer competitive advantage.